The prior art is already aware of sand trap rakes which are powered by a tractor or the like and which have fingers for plowing through the sand and to be followed by dresser or like implements for smoothing the sand. These rakes are commonly used when the surface of the sand has been upset, or when the sand has become hardened by weather conditions including rain, snow, freezing, and the like.
The present invention provides a sand trap rake which plows or conditions the sand to loosen and smooth the sand, all in one pass of the implement. In doing so, the tines which plow through the sand are disposed at a reclining angle so that any debris or the like which would otherwise tend to be caught by the tines will be removed from the tines when the tines are dragged at the inclined angle. In this arrangement, the tines are placed at the angle to the ground surface where any debris will be brushed off the tines. Further, the tines are presented on a single plate which has a backing and a plurality of tine fingers, all of which can be suitably attached to a support which is adjustable for purposes of altering the angle of inclination.
Still further, it is important in most environments, particularly with a golf course environment, to avoid creation of distraction noises, and the present invention does so by means of avoiding disturbing noises created by the articular parts of this machine being in contact with each other. In accomplishing this objective, there is an avoidance of chains which otherwise would be connecting parts, and there is utilization of dampening bumpers intervening between moving parts.
Still further, the present invention provides for the dragging of sand conditioning members which are restrictively free to move up and down but, by means of this invention, the upward movement is restricted so that the members remain in an operative position and do not flip upwardly out of that position.
Thus, the conditioner members of this invention are in modular sections in end-to-end relationship across the swath of the machine, and the tines themselves are adjustable for selecting the angle at which they produce the plowing action through the sand, as mentioned above. The adjustment is such that a plurality of angles can be selected, and, in each position, the angulated tines are held in a fixed position until moved to the next adjustment, as desired. With that feature, the tines can be positioned for optimal treatment of the sand, according to the condition of the sand, such as compacted, loose, wet, frozen, with debris, or the like. Further, with the angulated adjustment arrangement, the depth of penetration into the sand can be selected and controlled.
The adjustable rake sections of this invention have three adjustable positions, although there could be any number of positions such as achieved by means of a slotted adjustment which would present infinite variety of positions. This allows the golf course maintenance personnel to operate with only the one attachment which is adjustable to the different angles based on the amount of aggressiveness required. Different times of the year may require more or less grooming, such as the early spring, after winter snow, and rain may require the sand to be loosened more, and then during normal summer operations, a less aggressive grooming is required. The system allows for an easy and quick adjustable method to change the aggressiveness of the rake. The adjustable rake sections are tipped at an angle for the operation in all settings. This allows for most of the debris that typically builds up on other's vertical fingers to easily slide away from the fingers and not plug the rake. Typically during the fall when leaves are present, and also when the traps have grass starting to grow into them, debris becomes a problem, and the rake of this invention negotiates those conditions.
The adjustable rake sections of this invention have the tines thereon which are a substitute for the commonly used vertically positioned bolted studs in other rakes. Those studs typically wear after use, and it is time consuming to unbolt and replace them after their useful life. With the rake of this invention, the complete section of tines is replaced as one section or unit, and only a few fasteners are required and thus there is a savings of time in the replacement.